What every window cleaner hates

Yesterday I pulled up to a gas station to clean their convenience store windows. When we parked we saw that there was a bucket and a pole and clean windows. My heart dropped. I went inside and stood in line to see that a tall man in his forties with brown long hair, a scruffy unkempt beard and eyes that looked like he was sleep deprived or a drinker or drug user was awaiting payment. I asked for the owner but he was on holidays so I spoke to the assistant manager. She is a nice women who always gives me a Tim Horton’s coffee (they have Tim Horton’s there sorta like Dunkin Donuts but better). She is very nice.

I spoke to her and asked what was going on. Well, a few weeks ago this man gave the invoice. He said he works for me. He gave her a small invoice, whereas mine is a nice Quick Books computer printout, 81/2 by 11. He just said they changed the invoices. I have no idea why she paid him in the past with a different price, a different invoice, and he is a scruffy scary looking guy, whereas I may be scary because I’m tall and have a deep voice. But I’m clean shaven and I try to dress neatly.

I charge her $20+tax whereas this guy charges $10 no tax. He didn’t even want payment, he wanted a $10 worth of gas for his old beaten up unlettered Cargo van. He had a another guy with him that looked like it might be his brother who was just a scruffy looking.

I made clear to her that he doesn’t work for me, that they are still under contract with us because they haven’t cancelled. And furthermore we have been doing the windows for months.

I told her not to pay him.

She said there was nothing that she could do, we had to wait for the owner to return. But strangely enough she still paid him, sounds like she still has some authority.

He cleans several other gas stations of the same company, but he may just be lying for all I know. And he said that the owner got him to do the windows.

So either I lost the job and they forgot to tell me, or this guy is an impostor, otherwise the owner would have told her about the change.

In any case it’s a very small job so it won’t hurt me to lose it, but it was maddening.

I did feel like emptying his bucket or doing something, or at the very least threatening him to never return. However I’m a professional and no good comes from revenge or getting even it would just reflect badly on me. Besides this guy could probably beat me up.

I will have to speak to the owner when he gets back and see what’s going on.

This occasionally happens to me, but it’s fairly rare, usually I’m told on the phone or in person that they are cancelling for someone cheaper I don’t remember the last time that I had a situation like this.